When learning about a particular subject, it is helpful for a student to have the assistance of an adult. For example, a young child will often learn to read by looking at a book containing pictures and corresponding words while an adult reads the words. The child follows the words and looks at the associated pictures as the adult reads. The child can study a word within a particular grammatical structure and can gather its meaning, either from the pictures and/or through additional explanation provided by the adult. At any point, the adult can discuss any word or its meaning with the child, or draw the child's attention to a similar word. The adult could also provide a further explanation if needed.
In addition to personalized instruction, instructional aids can assist the child in the learning process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,176 describes a system for interacting with a book. The book rests on a housing. A user uses a stylus to select a word or picture in the book. In response, the system can produce an output corresponding to the selected word or picture. For example, after the user selects a picture of an elephant in the book, the system can say the word “elephant,” and can produce a sound associated with an elephant.
While systems of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,176 are effective, improvements could be made. For example, the books that are used in the systems are two-dimensional. Two-dimensional books have limited ability to convey concepts to a user. For example, a user may not fully appreciate what an elephant looks like in real life by viewing only a two-dimensional picture of the elephant. For example, the user cannot fully appreciate the size proportions of the different body parts of an elephant by viewing only a two-dimensional picture of an elephant.
It would be desirable if the presentation of words or pictures to the user was not limited to two-dimensions. It would also be desirable to provide for a three-dimensional interactive system where a user could select points in three-dimensions and receive some feedback. This would make learning more enjoyable and effective.
Embodiments of the invention address the above problems and other problems, individually and collectively.